[Kamen Rider Die]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fish Sandwich

Yes, you have brought him up before, pretty much right at the start of the thread, no less.

Well, uh, obviously I was bringing him up again to spotlight the, uh, symmetry of the final three episodes. That, y'know, that was why and it's not at all that I got lazy about checking into things I wrote.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fish Sandwich

That's how I see Kuuga, compared to Rider shows both before it, and after. It acts as a foundation for the shows that have come since, to be sure, but it isn't something that can simply be "topped". It was a show that did a lot of very bold things that few other shows would ever dare to try. Those final episodes in particular are especially reflective of that. Yuusuke's final showdown with Daguva is by far my favorite ending boss fight in the whole franchise. Kuuga was often unconcerned with being as theatrical as your typical hero show, and that scene takes it all the way. It's not triumphant or satisfying. It's two men beating each other to death. It's unpleasant, it's not fun, and I respect the hell out of Kuuga for going that far. Very, very few series besides Kuuga would have the nerve to show their main hero crying as they lay the smackdown on the ultimate evil. Perhaps even fewer would then go on to have a final episode with no hero action whatsoever.

Kuuga, I've always felt, is a show that had something very special to say. I wish I had watched it more recently so I could do a better job describing it, but even as my memories of how exactly everything played out fade, I won't ever forget how strongly Kuuga portrayed the idea that, as cool as it sounds, being the guy who fights monsters isn't something to be glorified. It's a burden to be taken on, and a heavy one. Without rewatching the show, I can't tell you how much that comes across throughout, but it definitely comes together perfectly at the end, with that final episode in particular making it abundantly clear that the biggest influence Yuusuke had on the people around him was simply being Yuusuke.

The burden thing, okay. If that worked for you, I can see the rest of this grim, serious show working great. (I didn't realize when I started this show how chillingly accurate the screencap of Ichijou shouting "If you're not going to take it seriously, stay away!" would be.) The obligation, the sacred duty of protecting Tokyo from the Grongi, how that became a burden for the Team to bear, okay, yes. There's definitely stories with each of the team where they demonstrated their commitment to beating the Grongi. Ichijou doesn't go to see his dying mother. (She lives, no big!) Enokida has to suffer the pains of neglecting her son. Everyone has to put up with stopping by Pole Pole. It's dark material, sure. I'm just not as sure those themes worked with Godai.

I mean, there is a lot of people talking about the emotional and physical toll being Kuuga is taking on Godai. Many, many scenes of non-Yusuke characters talking about how he's giving up so much to defend them, how he runs the risk of losing his happiness to become more powerful... All of those scenes are in the show and attest to the theme of You Guys Maybe Being A Kamen Rider Sort-Of Sucks Real Bad. But, honestly, I'm not sure anyone told Joe Odagiri?

The character of Yusuke is one where, it's a lot of "tell, don't show" for me. He's such a fun, upbeat character, always trying his best and seeing the bright side, protecting smiles, it's a little difficult to square that with how we're constantly told in the final episodes that he is maybe one more fight from losing everything about him that people love and becoming an unstoppable warrior of darkness. Like, he rarely seems that concerned about it? There's a way to read that as him tamping down his fears to not worry his friends and family, but besides maybe one two-parter, we don't really see the potential stakes to Kuuga's growing power.

Not to compare this to another show, but it'd be like if the Hazard Trigger were introduced in Build, and Sento used it to defeat a villain without quite losing control, then used the Trigger without any problems for eight episodes, and on the ninth one we got a scene of Banjou and Sawa talking about how dangerous it is for Sento to use the Trigger and how worried everyone watching the show should be for him. That... no. That is not how you convey stakes!

And, without giving this paragraph the time it deserves (I really gotta get to work!), I wonder if that's maybe why I'm more down on this series than you were. In the overall, I think Kuuga told its story well. It's just, in the minutiae, I think it had some problems properly dramatizing its themes. There's weird tonal things, the ways a dark story would lead into a light story without really referencing the shift, the ways characters would drop out then reappear as though everyone was waiting for them, the ways scenes didn't feel built to tell a story but to hit a quota... I don't know. I wonder if this is a show that's less fun to watch than to have watched.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fish Sandwich

So needless to say, I like Kuuga a lot, and if I'm being totally honest, it was something of a surreal experience seeing how difficult it was for you to get into. It was also a really valuable experience, too though, because Kuuga has always been a series I have a hard time seeing how anyone could not love, and I think you did a great job as usual explaining why you felt the way you did. I almost wonder if the light in which you see it will change when you have the shows right after to compare it to, but either way, I'm really looking forward to seeing you talk about Agito.

Thanks! I hope you'll keep giving me your outlook on these shows when you feel strongly about them. Kuuga left me cold in a way that, honestly, I'm still processing. I do have to get to work, but that probably won't stop me from coming back to this board in a few hours to get some of these Kuuga thoughts out of my head.